Latest news with #SamBailey
Daily Mirror
03-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Sam Bailey: ‘I won The X Factor but only really wanted one simple thing'
X Factor crooner Sam Bailey opens up about the real reason she first auditioned for the show - and how Adolescence star Stephen Graham has helped him realise his dream Former prison officer Sam Bailey, 48, shot to fame after winning The X Factor in 2013 and since then, she's not only forged a singing career, but has also become a force to be reckoned with in musical theatre, with roles in everything from Chicago to Everybody's Talking About Jamie. But as new catches up with her after one of her powerhouse performances at the Paul Stank Charitable Trust Summer Ball, it's clear that fame hasn't gone to her head. The Leicester-based mum-of-three, who has been married to husband Craig Pearson for 22 years, is warm and down-to-earth as she stops to pose for selfies with fans. Here, Sam opens up to OK! about her son Tommy's health challenges, hanging out with Rebekah Vardy, her career goals and why she'll always be grateful to Adolescence star Stephen Graham... READ MORE: 'I found an innovative red light LED hair brush that's perfect for encouraging faster hair growth' Sam, how are you? I'm good. I'm just back from performing on a Seaborn cruise – my 24th cruise to date! I was allowed to take my 10-year-old, Miley – she was the only kid on board so she was spoiled rotten! And we're off on holiday soon to Disney, Florida, with the kids. Your son Tommy, who is autistic, was diagnosed with epilepsy in May last year. That must have been terrifying… It's been a mad time. We have to normalise it now – and educate people on what to do in certain situations. WhereverI am in the world, I have two alarms set to UK time – one at 7am and one at 7pm, so I can call Tommy and check that he's taken his meds. If he doesn't, six or seven hours later he could have a massive seizure. How are all the kids? Brooke is at uni, she's going into musical theatre, and Tommy's just finished his GCSEs. But he had a seizure three days before his maths GCSE as it can cause brain fog and we had to get an exemption for him, so that's been difficult. You have to fight for everything – but I'm a mum and that's what you do. You travel a lot – does your husband Craig miss you when you're away? It's funny, when I come home he's like, 'When are you off again?' Because I just come home and make a total mess! I'm undoing suitcases, there's washing everywhere... I might have a day to sort everything, then I'm off again. Is there anything else career-wise that you'd like to do? I'd love to go into TV acting and films. I did a musical earlier this year, Now That's What I Call A Musical, with the brilliant Nina Wadia and I think I have acting chops, so I've got to get myself an acting agent. A comedy role would be great. Or EastEnders. I auditioned for Corrie years ago, not long after The X Factor, I was terrible. But now I've done seven musicals and I think I'm pretty good. I just want to get my teeth stuck into something new. You don't rest on your laurels… Ha, no. I think the busier I am, the happier I am. I only went on The X Factor to get a new kitchen! I didn't go on for clout, or to be famous. I went on it as I wanted something. But now that I've been given that platform, I've run with it. That's where some of the people that have gone on shows like that go wrong – it's singing and that's it. The X Factor has come in for some criticism – how do you feel about that? I've travelled all over the world, and it's all because of my start on The X Factor – never bite the hand that feeds you. My experiences were only ever positive. I haven't seen Simon in a long time, I do bump into him at the odd event. You duetted with Nicole Scherzinger on the final of The X Factor – are you still in touch with her? I speak to her other half, Thom Evans, actually. I know Thom of old. I used to do a lot of events that he would go to, being a rugby player. So when I saw him on The X Factor: Celebrity, I was rooting for him – he's such a ball of fun and gorgeous to look at. I was praying he and Nicole would get together. Are you still mates with Rebekah and Jamie Vardy? Yes, I went to their kids' birthday parties! But my kids know their kids, they grew up together and they're such gorgeous children. I remember we went to this soft play centre in Leicester once when the kids were little – we went in and Jamie and Bex and the kids were there. Then in walked Stephen Graham, [his wife] Hannah and their two children! People in there were like, 'Whaaat...?!' Do you know Stephen Graham? Yeah and let me tell you, he's the reason my son wants to be an actor. And he's such a nice guy. My husband took Tommy to see Venom and said, 'Ah, Stephen Graham's in this, I didn't realise – me and your mum know him.' My son was like 'WHAT? You know Stephen Graham? I want to be an actor.' I messaged Stephen and said, 'Mate, because of you my boy wants to act.' And this is a kid that doesn't come out of his room for anything. Stephen sent him a four-minute voice note, giving him loads of advice – I played it to Tom. Then he had to learn a monologue, auditioned at a college and absolutely smashed it. He got in and he's going to acting college in September. For an autistic kid with epilepsy, that's quite something. No, as long as they're happy. The only thing I've ever said to my kids is, 'I don't care what you do, as long as you get stamps on your passport.' I know so many people that haven't left their own country. There's such a big world out there. If you can, explore it.
Daily Record
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
X Factor favourite Nicholas McDonald looking forward to returning to Lanarkshire stage
The 28-year-old will be playing Airdrie Town Hall on Saturday, June 28 There's no place like home for former X Factor finalist Nicholas McDonald who is looking forward to performing in Lanarkshire again. Nicholas shot to fame after finishing runner-up to Sam Bailey in series 10 of the competition in 2013. Brought up in Wishaw, the 28-year-old still lives in North Lanarkshire but spends much of his time all over Britain and Europe, amassing over a hundred live performances each year. He is now bringing his full-band show to Airdrie Town Hall later this month, his first and possibly only performance in Lanarkshire this year. Nicholas played Hamilton Town Hall last year, he followed that up by appearing at NHS Lanarkshire Awards ceremony in October last year and dedicated the performance to staff who cared for him. He suffered a cardiac arrest while playing football in East Kilbride at 10 years old and following tests was diagnosed with Long QT syndrome. 'The one at Hamilton last year was such a success that we thought we'd do Airdrie this time. I have played there before during a charity show years ago. 'I never get to do many local shows so it's nice to be back in the area. It won't be the same show as last year and I will be playing some original music as well as the favourites. 'I actually have family coming over from Florida for the show as well. I'm really looking forward to it. 'I'm just back from Egypt where I was doing some shows there and I'm really busy for the rest of the year. 'I'm very lucky in that I do around 120 shows a year, and 12 years down the line [from The X Factor] I get to call it my full-time job. 'I'm thankful and grateful that people spend their hard-earned money to come out and see me, especially now with the cost-of-living crisis, and that doesn't go unrecognised. I really appreciate every single person who buys a ticket and comes along after all these years. "It's a dream to call this my job and I absolutely love it. I do the show production myself, I haven't any management or special PR team doing it for me.' Nicholas still keeps in touch with X Factor winner Sam Bailey, the two forged a great friendship while on the show. 'I met up with Sam a few months ago when she was part of a musical at the Kings Theatre in Glasgow. We hope we can do something together at some point but it's finding dates that suit both our schedules. I think it would be a first because I don't think an X Factor winner and runner-up have actually done their own show together.' Tickets for Nicholas Airdrie show are priced from £26 from: or by calling the Box Office on 01698 274545. VIP tickets are also available which include a meet and greet with Nicholas before the show, a professional photo, front row seats, a signed poster, and a souvenir VIP lanyard. *Don't miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
187,000 Kansas children miss out on free summer meals despite eligibility
Kansas Department for Children and Families data shows only 3% of eligible Kansas children received summer food assistance through the federal Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer program. (Sam Bailey/Kansas Reflector) TOPEKA — An estimated 187,000 Kansas school-age children could have received free summer meals last year — their families just didn't submit the application. Of the 193,000 potential applications estimated by the United States Department of Agriculture for the SUN Bucks program, according to the Kansas Department for Children and Families, there were 5,645 submitted — only 3%. The program, also known as the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer program, gives families a $120 summer grocery card per eligible school-age child. How to apply for SUN Bucks Application is open now through Aug. 29, 2025. Families who did not receive a letter from the Kansas Department for Children and Families in January can check their eligibility. Families should apply through the DCF Self-service portal. While most eligible children did not receive the SUN Bucks, 59,265 families automatically received them, according to DCF. The number of families who automatically received benefits were not counted into the 193,000 potential applications. Children in a household that had already submitted paperwork to receive free or reduced-price school lunches or applied for monthly food assistance programs, for example, were auto-enrolled. Families auto-enrolled for this summer received a letter in January. The majority of states that offer SUN Bucks auto-enroll children in Medicaid. Kansas does not. Haley Kottler, campaign director for food access at Kansas Appleseed, says DCF can't auto-enroll children on Medicaid because of capacity issues with its internal system. 'If systems were integrated and updated, approximately 60,000 more eligible children could be auto-enrolled in SUN Bucks,' Kottler said. After federal funding was approved, families had from Aug. 12, 2024, to Oct. 15, 2024, to apply. This year, families have from Jan. 27 to Aug. 29 to apply — enlarging the window from two to seven months. Kottler identified the small timespan as a reason for the low number of applications. The original application deadline was Sept. 11, 2024, and Kottler fought to change it. But she said that even with the extended window, applications didn't increase. 'It made it really challenging, because a lot of families just didn't know they were able to utilize this benefit,' Kottler said. Erin LaRow, a spokeswoman for DCF, said her department spread the word via social media campaigns, messaging within the DCF phone system and self-service portal, a dedicated webpage and a statewide news release. The department also shared a fact sheet, both in English and Spanish, with the Kansas State Department of Education. David Rubel, a New York City-based education consultant, looked at 12 states' potential number of applications vs applications submitted. He found the percentage of applications submitted in every state was less than 20%. North Carolina had the highest results, with 19.3% of applications submitted, followed by Missouri, with 18.3%. He said the comparatively robust numbers are because of communication about the SUN Bucks program from school districts. 'It's all about the school districts getting the word out to their families. And why I emphasize the school districts is because they're the only ones who have the current contact information for the families,' Rubel said. Amber Wheeler, the superintendent of Humboldt School District — which has 33% of students approved for free and reduced-price lunches — said it has posted a DCF infographic on their social media accounts. Robin Button, the food and service director for Fort Scott School District — with 56.7% of students approved for free and reduced-price lunches — said it plans on posting the infographic and mentioning the program at its town hall. In the wake of President Donald Trump's promise to deport more people — and the use of federal documents to identify them — immigrant families are wary of submitting more documentation. While the Kansas DCF website states that receiving SUN Bucks would not affect a family's immigration status, fear remains. 'There's a chilling effect when it comes to programs like this,' Kottler said. 'It's absolutely causing them fear and to not apply.' Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk have been pushing spending cuts — a crusade that has trickled down to state-level officials. At the Kansas State Board of Education meeting on April 8, the board nearly cut the Public Education Partnership, which informs parents of the summer meals offered to them. The partnership was saved by one vote. In the 2025-2026 Kansas legislative session, Republicans attempted to insert a provision in the budget that would ban the use of SUN Bucks on candy or soda. Democratic Governor Laura Kelly vetoed the provision — and while the Senate overturned her veto, the House did not — ultimately upholding her veto. LaRow with DCF said the department has received 1,294 SUN Bucks applications as of April 11.
